MI8C, 


I 


The  History  of  the  Woman's 

Auxiliary 

Given  at  the 

SECOND  ANNUAL  MEETING 

of  the 

Woman’s  Council  of  the  Presbyterian 

Church,  U.  S. 


Kansas  City,  Mo.,  May  21-27, 1914 


By  MISS  JENNIE  HANNA 

Published  by  Request  of  the  Council 


been  a  tower  of  str£l*§j^N,  iiQl^er  department.  Miss  McGowan, 
of  Kentucky,  was  made  Se^fctarryT^and  Mrs.  D.  A.  McMillan 
Treasurer.  The  new  financial  plan  of  a  somewhat  inadequate 
budget  apportioned  among  the  synodicals  and  presbyterials, 
still  required  every  bit  of  the  skilled  and  faithful  labor  with 
which  it  was  handled.  This  Assembly  (1914)  brings  us  to  the 
end  of  our  two  provisional  years.  We  are  rejoiced  that  our 
probationary  days  are  ended,  and  that  we  are  to  be  accepted  as 
an  agency  of  the  church  “in  good  and  regular  standing,”  and 
our  maintenance  provided,  as  are  those  of  other  departments, 
leaving  our  officers  free  to  use  their  time  and  strength  in  the 
work  of  education  and  inspiration.  Certain  it  is  the  Executive 
Secretaries  have  spoken  with  no  uncertain  sound  as  to  the 
value  of  the  Auxiliary  to  every  one  of  their  offices.  Their  sym¬ 
pathy  and  co-operation  have  been  invaluable,  practical  and  un¬ 
failing,  a  most  happy  illustration  of  the  unity  where  there  is 
“neither  male  nor  female  in  Christ  Jesus,”  but  the  common 
labor  of  those  who  are  “heirs  together  of  the  grace  of  life,” 
“striving  together  for  the  faith  of  the  gospel.” 

This  sketch  is  incomplete  if  it  does  not  include  any  of  the 
splendid  results  of  the  short  life  of  the  Auxiliary,  but  the  time 
will  not  allow  more.  The  Annual  Reports  of  the  Superintendent 
for  both  years,  printed  and  distributed,  give  in  barest  outline 
the  wonderful  development  of  the  eighteen  months  of  its  exist¬ 
ence,  a  progress  in  unity,  efficiency  and  power  to  make  glad 
the  heart  of  every  missionary  woman  and  every  lover  of  the 
Kingdom.  Only  those  in  close  touch  with  the  work  can  realize 
what  the  advance  means,  what  a  joyful  promise  it  is  of  increas¬ 
ing  fruitfulness  in  world-wide  evangelization  The  results  of 
these  few  months  show  to  a  marked  degree  the  power  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  without  which  neither  administrative  ability  nor 
perfected  organization  would  have  availed  anything.  The  out¬ 
look  is  a  call  to  renewed  faithfulness.  The  Woman’s  Auxiliary 
will  come  far  short  of  its  high  calling  if  it  forgets  it  must  be 
more  than  an  organization.  It  must  be  an  organism  indwelt  by 
life,  the  Life  which  is  life  indeed.  We  are  part  of  .Hi's  body 
and  apart  from  Him  we  can  do  nothing.  Our  passion,  likejaur 
Master’s,  must  be  for  souls,  not  forms  nor  machmeryn  J3nly 

25  /f- 


FOREWORD 


More  than  thirty  years  ago,  when  the  women  of  the  South¬ 
ern  Presbyterian  Church  first  began  to  realize  the  great  need 
of  better  organization  in  their  missionary  work,  a  small  group 
of  women,  scattered  throughout  the  church,  undertook  to  bring 
order  out  of  chaos  and  began  by  correspondence  the  agita¬ 
tion  which,  finally  led  to  the  organization  of  the  first  Mis¬ 
sionary  Union  (Presbyterial)  in  the  Southern  Assembly. 

The  moving  spirit  of  this  courageous  band  of  pioneer  women 
was  Miss  Jennie  Hanna,  a  young  girl  still  in  her  teens,  with 
the  divine  optimism  of  youth  inspiring  her  service.  Though 
blest  with  wealth,  social  position  and  a  wide  circle  of  devoted 
friends,  she  was  attracted  not  at  all  by  the  life  of  social  pleas¬ 
ure  which  might  have  been  hers,  but  was  busy  about  her 
“Master’s  business.”  Every  resource  at  her  command  was 
consecrated  to  the  advancement  of  the  loved  cause  of  Missions. 

The  story  of  those  days  and  years  will  never  be  fully  writ¬ 
ten.  The  hopes  and  disappointments,  the  joys  and  sorrows,  the 
criticisms  and  misunderstandings  make  up  a  story  of  deep  in¬ 
terest  to  those  of  us  who  are  reaping,  in  our  well-organized 
work  of  today,  the  harvest  of  that  long  ago  sowing,  so  often 
done  in  tears. 

Miss  Hanna  was  always  frail  in  body,  at  best,  and  a  physical 
collapse  came  in  the  midst  of  that  early  endeavor  of  years 
ago.  The  invaluable  assistance  which  she  has  rendered  the 
organized  work  of  later  years  has  often  been  given  from  a 
bed  of  illness  and  pain. 

Her  Kentucky  and  Virginia  ancestors  united  with  her  Hugue¬ 
not  forebears  in  bequeathing  to  her  a  love  of  the  South  and 
a  loyalty  to  the  Presbyterian  church  that  nothing  could  dimin¬ 
ish,  while  her  keen  intelligence  and  kindly  tact  have  often 
won  her  a  hearing  from  conservative  ones  who  would  not 
have  heeded  one  less  gifted. 

Fully  realizing  what  Miss  Hanna’s  lifework  has  meant  to  the 
women  of  our  church,  it  was  a  joy  to  the  members  of  the 
Woman’s  Council,  at  their  Second  Annual  Meeting  in  Kansas 
City,  to  hear  from  her  own  lips  the  following  interesting  story 
which  is  published  in  response  to  their  unanimous  request. 

Between  the  lines  the  discerning  will  read  something  of  that 
untiring  personal  service  and  unfailing  prophetic  vision  of 
which  the  writer  makes  no  mention,  but  which  left  its  impress 
on  the  work  of  the  Church  forever. 


The  History  of  the  Woman’s 

Auxiliary 

It  is  a  blessed  privilege  to  see  fulfilled  the  desire  of  a  life¬ 
time.  As  she  sees  the  Woman’s  Council  today  representing 
the  Woman’s  Auxiliary,  a  systematized,  efficient  agency  of  the 
church,  one  woman  in  this  church  could  almost  say  “Now  let- 
test  Thou  Thy  servant  depart  in  peace,  for  mine  eyes  have 
seen  Thy  salvation.” 

About  thirty  years  ago,  after  some  experience  in  the 
missionary  work  of  other  churches  having  general  organi¬ 
zation  under  intelligent  leadership,  the  advantage  and  vast 
possibilities  of  such  union  among  our  own  women  came 
to  her  with  an  insistent  voice  that  would  not  be  denied. 
Mrs.  Josiah  Sibley,  of  Augusta,  Ga.,  had  the  same  conviction 
of  our  need  and  duty  and  in  some  way  the  Lord  put  these  two, 
already  in  full  sympathy,  into  personal  communication.  In 
1886  or  1887,  hoping  to  organize  the  woman’s  missionary  work 
of  the  church  on  an  ieffective  basis,  the  young  woman  and 
the  older  set  out  together  upon  an  untried  pathway,  “not  dis¬ 
obedient  to  the  heavenly  vision.”  Very  soon  we  learned  that 
many  other  loyal  women  had  caught  the  vision  and  were  only 
waiting  the  word  of  advance.  Soon,  too,  we  discovered  there 
were  lions  in  the  way,  lions  who  could  roar  very  loudly,  and 
who  did  not  always  seem  to  be  chained!  But  to  falter  or  turn 
back  did  not  enter  our  minds.  Dr.  Van  Dyke  says  well  “Cour¬ 
age  is  a  virtue  that  the  young  cannot  spare.  It  is  better  to 
make  a  thousand  mistakes  and  suffer  a  thousand  reverses  than 
to  run  away  from  the  battle.”  Doubtless  we  made  mistakes 
galore;  certainly  we  did  not  run  away!  And  we  “hitched 
our  wagon  to  a  star.”  Our  faith  was  large  enough  to  ask  for 
nothing  less  than  complete  organization  along  the  approved 
lines  of  Presbyterial  and  Synodical  unions,  a  form  of  organiza¬ 
tion  whose  completeness  and  strength  have  been  attested  by 
years  of  glorious  history.  Did  we  gain  our  object?  In  a 
movement  to  bring  the  stores  of  unused  ability,  consecration, 


5 


service  and  money  of  our  women  to  the  work  of  the  world’s 
redemption,  were  we  gladly  welcomed  and  generously  assisted 
by  the  ecclesiastical  powers  to  whom  we  gave  allegiance?  Not 
altogether!  This  is  not  the  story  of  those  early  days,  though 
it  is  well  worth  the  telling.  Some  helped  the  movement  nobly. 
Some  regarded  it  as  unscriptural,  un-Presbyterian,  unwomanly, 
adjectives  not  entirely  unfamiliar  in  the  church  papers  two 
years  ago.  Some  church  courts  even  overtured  the  General 
Assembly  against  it.  Numerous  records  of  such  action  may  be 
found  in  the  Assembly’s  minutes  of  twenty  or  twenty-five  years 
past,  but  in  spite  of  adverse  criticism  there  was  a  widespread 
co-operation,  and.  by  the  grace  of  God,  the  foundation  was  laid 
without  which  the  superstructure  of  today,  the  Woman’s  Aux¬ 
iliary,  could  hardly  have  been  erected.  We  began  at  the  bot¬ 
tom  to  form  Presbyterial  organizations.  The  Auxiliary  move¬ 
ment  found  the  Presbyterials  ready  and  started  at  the  top,  ask¬ 
ing  for  a  leader,  an  administrative  officer.  Mrs.  Sibley,  who 
died  in  1898,  lived  to  see  Presbyterial  Unions  in  half  of  our 
Synods,  twenty  being  formed  the  first  year,  1888.  The  apos¬ 
tolic  work  of  Mrs.  Elizabeth  McRae,  of  Fayetteville  Presbytery, 
stands  out  pre-eminently.  Mrs.  M.  D.  Irvine,  of  Danville,  Ky., 
was  another  of  our  faithful  pioneer  workers.  These  were  only 
two  of  the  many  who  labored  with  tireless  zeal  in  the  same 
cause. 

The  year  1910  found  us  with  seventy-eight  out  of  eighty- 
four  Presbyteries  and  five  out  of  fourteen  Synods  organized, 
but  apparently  no  nearer  than  before  to  any  general  organi¬ 
zation.  The  thought  had  not  been  forgotten  however.  When 
the  Presbyterial  Union  of  Upper  Missouri  met  in  Kansas  City 
in  1909,  and  the  formation  of  a  Synodical  Union  was  urged, 
the  logical  union  of  all  Synodicals  into  one  body  was  given 
as  a  reason  for  hastening  state  organization,  but  so  weak  was 
the  faith  of  some  of  us  that  we  advised  no  mention  of  a  general 
body  be  made  publicly,  if  we  wished  to  succeed.  All  over  the 
South  there  were  women  of  practical  ability  and  faith  who 
recognized  the  waste  of  power  and  opportunity  because  we 
were  only  scattered  units,  not  utilizing  one  particle  of  the 
strength  and  inspiration  of  concentration  of  the  forces.  When 
the  wave  of  enthusiasm  swept  over  the  country,  as  the  Jubi- 


6 


lee  was  celebrated  from  the  Pacific  to  the  Atlantic  in  1910  and 
1911,  when  Women’s  Boards  of  all  denominations  shared  the 
conferences  of  experienced  workers,  exchanging  invaluable 
plans  for  larger  efficiency  and  realized  the  blessed  fellowship, 
which  is  the  bond  of  Christian  unity,  the  Southern  Presbyte¬ 
rian  church  was  the  only  evangelical  denomination  in  this 
whole  country  which  had  no  central  organization  of  its  women, 
no  comprehensive  records,  no  accurate  reports  of  their  splen¬ 
did  work.  With  a  Woman’s  Missionary  society  founded  in 
1828,  a  Young  Ladies’  Society  in  Fayetteville  in  1824,  with  only 
seven  societies  in  the  United  States  having  a  longer  existence, 
with  women  of  zeal  and  consecration  who  had  labored  grand¬ 
ly  for  missions,  we  had  not  one  word  of  history  or  achieve¬ 
ment  in  proper  shape  to  add  to  the  glorious  Jubilee  records  1 
Only  the  most  vigorous  search  made  it  possible  for  the  Mis¬ 
souri  committee  on  organization  to  gather  statistics  as  to  our 
Jubilee  offerings,  so  that  Mrs.  Peabody  was  able  at  the  last 
moment  to  add  to  the  record  our  gifts  of  $10,305.  Certainly 
the  time  was  fully  ripe  for  wiser  conduct  of  our  work,  and  God 
had  prepared  his  leader,  as  He  always  does  when  we  are  ready 
to  march  into  the  promised  land.  The  granddaughter  of  one  of 
our  ablest  pioneer  home  missionaries,  with  personal  experience 
in  founding  missions  among  Slavs  and  Italians,  Mrs.  W.  C. 
Winsborough,  of  Kansas  City,  grasped  the  full  significance  of 
the  situation.  All  the  spring  and  early  summer  of  1911  the  ne¬ 
cessity  of  uniform  organization  under  the  leadership  of  one 
efficient  woman  became  more  impressed  upon  her  heart.  Final¬ 
ly  one  hot  June  morning,  this  busy  housewife  and  mother, 
when  the  children  were  all  off  to  school,  dropped  the  break¬ 
fast  dishes  and  wrote  out  “Some  Reasons  Why  a  Woman  Sec¬ 
retary  Is  Needed,”  which  afterwards  became  tbe  first  docu¬ 
ment  in  the  campaign. 

Some  Reasons  Why  a  General  Secretary  of  Woman’s  Mission¬ 
ary  Work  Is  Needed  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  U.  S. 

1.  That  our  women  may  be  more  thoroughly  organized  and 
along  uniform  lines  : 

Every  church  should  have  its  societies  for  old  and  young. 
Every  Presbytery  should  have  its  Woman’s  Presbyterial 
Union  co-operating  with  it  in  its  Missionary  work.  Every 


7 


Synod  should  have  its  Synodical  Union,  guiding,  and  build¬ 
ing  up  the  woman’s  missionary  work  of  the  state.  In 
these  meetings  the  plan  of  conduct  should  be  the  same  and 
the  dates  of  meeting  consecutive,  in  order  that  the  best  speak¬ 
ers  may  be  heard  with,  minimum  expense. 

To  be  effective  this  must  be  carried  on  from  a  head  office 
by  some  one  who  is  devoting  her  entire  time  to  the  work,  and 
who  has  a  grasp  of  the  whole  field  in  its  entirety. 

2.  That  all  records  of  what  the  missionary  societies  are  do¬ 
ing  and  giving  may  be  kept  separate  from  other  church  rec¬ 
ords.  This  will  enable  its  societies  : 

(a)  To  plan  intelligently  an  advance  in  gifts  each  year  by 
asking  an  increased  per  cent  from  each  society. 

(b)  To  know  where  we,  as  a  body,  are  giving  money  and 
whether  we  are  failing  to  give  a  just  proportion  to  any  one 
cause. 

(c)  To  compare  the  work  of  our  societies  with  that  of  other 
denominations,  and  know  whether  we  are  keeping  up  with  the 
work  of  other  churches. 

(d)  To  make  an  accurate,  not  approximate,  report  at  inter¬ 
denominational  meetings.  At  the  recent  Jubilee  Meetings 
throughout  the  country,  the  women  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  U.  S.  were  the  only  ones  unable  to  give  accurate  re¬ 
ports  on  what  they  were  doing  in  missions. 

3.  That  subjects  of  general  interest,  such  as  the  Woman’s 
Department,  at  Montreat  Conference,  may  be  placed  readily 
and  systematically  before  the  Missionary  Organizations  and 
co-operation  secured. 

4.  A  Secretary  of  Women’s  Work  will  afford  a  channel 
through  which  all  the  missionary  organizations  of  the  Church 
can  be  readily  and  systematically  reached  with  the  literature, 
study  helps,  and  general  missionary  information,  which  inter¬ 
denominational  bodies  are  sending  out  and  which  we  are  fail¬ 
ing  to  secure,  through  lack  of  organization. 

The  request  for  the  organization  of  the  Woman’s  Work  in 
the  Southern  Presbyterian  Church,  comes  not  from  the  slight¬ 
est  feeling  of  dissatisfaction  with  the  ordering  and  conduct  of 
the  Missionary  work,  as  now  carried  on.  by  the  Committees, 
but  from  a  profound  conviction  that  the  efficiency  of  the  Wom¬ 
an’s  Department  can  be  increased  many  fold  by  more  system¬ 
atic  conduct  of  its  affairs. 

Shall  we  believe  that  to  her  any  less  than  Jeremiah  came 
the  Voice  “Write  all  the  words  that  I  have  spoken  unto  thee?’’ 
Without  changing  a  single  word,  she  sent  the  paper  to  Mrs. 
D.  A.  McMillan,  president  of  the  Missouri  Synodical.  Mrs. 
McMillan  took  it  up  promptly  and  energetically.  She  sub- 


8 


mitted  it  to  her  own  executive  committee,  then  to  the  Syn¬ 
odical  presidents  of  Virginia*  Texas,  Alabama,  Georgia  and 
Kentucky,  these,  with  Missouri,  being  the  only  Synodicals  then 
organized,  and  received  their  unanimous  approval.  She  also 
sent  it  to  some  of  the  officers  of  the  Committee  of  Systematic 
Beneficence,  thus  bringing  it  to  the  notice  of  some  of  the  men 
best  able  to  advise  and  encourage  us.  Virginia,  the  first  in 
Presbyterial  Union  (East  Hanover,  1888,  under  Mrs.  Sarah 
Price),  the  first  in  Synodical  Union  (April,  1905,  under  Mrs.  J. 
Calvin  Stewart),  was  the  first  again  to  fall  into  line.  Mrs. 
Stewart  threw  her  splendid  energies  and  trained  powers  into 
the  work.  She  wrote  many  letters  both  to  pastors  and  to 
women  and  circulated  typewritten  copies  of  “Reasons  Why,” 
helping  to  bring  us  in  touch  with  some  of  the  strongest  work¬ 
ers  in  Georgia,  Alabama  and  Texas.  Mrs.  Davis,  Mrs.  Dullnig 
and  Mrs.  Johnson  are  with  us  today.  Many  representative  men 
and  women  had  the  subject  put  before  them  before  any  official 
step  was  taken.  Mrs.  Irvine  again  worked  untiringly  to  enlist 
Kentucky,  in  spite  of  great  physical  handicaps. 

The  Executive  Committee  of  Missouri  Synodical  directed 
Mrs.  McMillan,  with  Mrs.  Winsborough  and  Miss  Hanna,  to 
present  the  “Reasons  Why”  to  the  Synod  of  Missouri.  Synod 
met  in  Kansas  City  at  our  very  doors,  one  of  the  special  prov¬ 
idences  which  smoothed  our  way,  and  each  of  the  Assembly’s 
Executive  Committees  was  represented  there.  Mrs.  McMillan 
was  detained  by  illness,  and  she  herself  called  that  another 
special  providence,  as  she  said,  had  she  been  there  she  would 
not  have  consented  to  have  any  paper  presented  but  the  orig¬ 
inal  “Reasons  Why,”  which  would  not  have  been  accepted  in 
that  form,  as  we  learned  later. 

November  1st,  1911,  saw  two  eager  women  with  high 
hopes  and  courage,  but  absolutely  without  experience, 
attending  every  session  of  the  august  body.  It  was 
just  as  easy  to  reach  the  “men  and  brethren”  as  if 
we  had  had  an  ecclesiastical  standing  and  the  privilege  of 
the  floor;  perhaps  easier,  for  those  busy  men  with  weighty 
business  before  them,  with  committee  meetings  filling  every 
moment  between  sessions,  gave  us  with  generous  courtesy  not 
only  time,  but  practical  advice.  We  met  them  individually  at 


9 


any  spare  moment.  They  also  arranged  conferences  at  lunch 
time  and  listened  to  our  arguments,  presented  with  all  the 
persuasiveness  of  a  strong  cause.  Dr.  W.  R.  Dobyns,  who 
had  already  agreed  to  present  the  matter  to  Synod,  told  us 
it  must  come  in  the  form  of  an  overture — lesson  number  one,  in 
proceedure. 

On  the  street  cars  on  the  way  home  Mrs.  Winsborough 
drafted  the  overture,  which  was  worked  over  the  next  day  into 
the  shape  since  so  familiar  : 

OVERTURE. 

The  Women’s  Synodical  Union  of  Missouri. 

Recognizing  with  a  deep  sense  of  gratitude  the  work  God 
has  permitted  our  women  to  do  in  the  cause  of  Missions  at 
home  and  abroad,  and  earnestly  desiring  to  increase  their  ef¬ 
ficiency  in  this  cause,  wish  to  call  attention  to  the  following 
facts : 

1.  Women  constitute  fully  three-fifths  of  the  membership 
of  the  Church. 

2.  A  large  proportion  of  the  mission  money  of  our  Church 
comes  from  Women’s  Societies. 

3.  The  Woman’s  Missionary  Society  is  a  very  active  agent  in 
the  education  of  the  Church  in  missions  and  in  arousing  en¬ 
thusiasm  and  planning  work. 

4.  Women,  as  mothers  and  teachers,  are  exerting  the  great¬ 
est  influence  on  the  younger  generation. 

5.  The  Presbyterian  Church  U.  S.  is  the  only  orthodox  de¬ 
nomination  in  America  which  has  not  its  Woman’s  Work  uni¬ 
formly  organized. 

6.  While  the  affairs  of  our  Church  at  large  are  being  con¬ 
ducted  along  lines  of  modern  methods,  the  work  of  the  women 
has  been  allowed  to  drag,  greatly  hampered  by  inefficient  or¬ 
ganization,  or  none  at  all.  Twenty-five  years  ago  the  first 
Presbyterian  Union  was  formed.  In  this  quarter  of  a  century 
since,  only  five  Synods  have  taken  the  next  step  and  formed 
Synodical  organizations,  yet  the  efficiency  of  the  State  organi¬ 
zation  is  shown  in  the  fact  that  the  women  of  Virginia  in¬ 
creased  their  offerings  $3,000  in  one  year  as  the  result  of  or¬ 
ganization. 

In  view  of  these  facts,  and  believing  that  our  Church  has 
failed  to  develop  the  possibilities  in  this  part  of  her  member¬ 
ship,  we,  the  Woman’s  Synodical  Union  of  Missouri,  ask  that 
this  Synod  approve  our  intention  to  unite  with  other  Synodical 


10 


Unions  in  an  appeal  to  the  General  Assembly  to  appoint  a 
woman  General  Secretary  of  Women’s  Work  in  the  Presbyte¬ 
rian  Church  U.  S. 

The  duties  of  this  Secretary  may  be  as  follows  : 

1.  To  co-ordinate  Woman’s  Missionary  work  as  now  con¬ 
ducted  in  Synodical  and  Presbyterial  Unions,  Woman’s  Socie¬ 
ties,  Young  People’s  Societies,  Junior  Missionary  Bands  and 
Missions  in  the  Sunday  School. 

2.  To  stimulate  interest  by  personal  visitation,  and  by  dis¬ 
seminating  information,  and  to  increase  gifts  through  the  reg¬ 
ular  channels  of  the  Church,  bringing  to  us  modern  methods 
that  have  been  tested  by  use. 

3.  To  organize  the  women  into  local  societies  and  into  Pres¬ 
byterial  and  Synodical  Unions,  under  Sessional.  Presbyterial 
and  Synodical  control,  and  to  keep  records  and  statistics  of 
all  women’s  work  for  the  purpose  of  comparison  and  publicity. 

Supervision. 

We  desire  this  Secretary  to  work  under  whatever  efficient 
supervision  the  General  Assembly  may  direct,  through  its  Ex¬ 
ecutive  Committees. 

We  earnestly  hope  this  Synod  will  set  its  seal  of  approval 
upon  this  attempt  of  its  women  to  increase  their  efficiency  in 
the  great  cause  of  carrying  the  gospel  to  the  world. 

Signed:  The  Executive  Committee  of  the  Woman’s  Synod¬ 
ical  Union  of  Missouri,  Mrs.  D.  A.  McMillan,  President. 

Unanimously  approved  by  Synod  of  Missouri,  Nov.  2,  1911. 
Woman’s  Synodical  Union  of  Virginia,  Nov.  3,  1911. 

All  afternoon,  November  2d,  we  waited  for  it  to  be  present¬ 
ed — lesson  number  two,  in  patience.  The  Woman’s  Synodical 
Union  of  Virginia  was  in  session  at  the  same  time.  We  were 
most  anxious  to  have  the  overture  acted  upon  in  time  to  reach 
them  that  night,  so  that  they  might  endorse  it  and  present  it 
to  their  own  Synod.  The  hours  slipped  away  and  it  looked  as 
if  we  should  have  no  hearing  that  day.  Finally  Miss  Hanna 
slipped  around  to  a  side  door,  called  Dr.  Dobyns  out  and  ex¬ 
plained  the  urgency  of  the  situation,  and  he  by  special  privilege 
presented  the  overture,  which  was  approved  unanimously.  It 
was  almost  time  for  adjournment,  but  the  brethren  were  not 
too  hurried  to  express  some  very  cordial  endorsement.  With 
what  joyful  hearts  we  rushed  to  the  Western  Union  office 

11 


and  wired  the  whole  document,  Overture  and  Reasons,  to 
Mrs.  Stewart!  We  had  no  funds  as  yet,  having  paid  for  the 
necessary  postage  and  typewriting  ourselves,  and  that  tele¬ 
gram  cost  $6,  but  we  charged  it  to  personal  account !  The  Vir¬ 
ginia  Synodical  added  its  unanimous  approval,  but  was  much 
less  fortunate  than  Missouri  in  getting  the  sanction  of  its  own 
Synod.  If  an  appeal  was  to  be  made  to  the  Assembly  there 
was  no  time  to  lose.  Mrs.  McMillan  appointed  Mrs.  Wins- 
borough  and  Miss  Hanna  as  official  committee  on  organization 
and  the  campaign  was  on.  It  was  called  afterward  by  a  well 
known  minister,  fair  minded  though  disapproving,  “masterly, 
comprehensive  and  systematic.” 

The  Overture  was  definite  as  to  the  end  desired;  the 
wonderful  working  out  of  best  methods  to  attain  the 
end  came  step  by  step  as  God  showed  the  way.  All 
the  initiative  in  forming  plans  came  from  Mrs.  Wins- 
borough.  Her  broad  grasp  and  quick  comprehension  of  stra¬ 
tegic  points  were  equalled  only  by  her  courage  and  untiring 
energy.  Miss  Hanna  shared  the  consultations,  carried  the 
business  end  and  divided  the  labor  of  writing  the  hundreds  of 
letters,  circulars  and  newspaper  articles.  Perhaps  no  two 
women  ever  worked  together  in  more  complete  sympathy  or 
with  characteristics  more  supplementary  of  each  other — anoth¬ 
er  special  providence.  Behind  all  the  hard  work  and  problems 
was  the  constant  proof  of  Divine  guidance,  marvelous  and  un¬ 
mistakable,  a  strength  that  never  failed.  The  Missouri  com¬ 
mittee  little  dreamed  of  doing  more  than  starting  the  work. 
If  they  had  known  the  way  it  would  lead  and  the  responsibili¬ 
ties  that  it  would  involve,  they  might  have  shrunk  in  dismay 
from  the  task,  but  the  heirs  of  the  King  may  well  adopt  the 
royal  motto,  “I  serve,”  for  strength  comes  with  service. 

Of  course,  a  first  necessity  was  money.  Such  a  big  task  could 
not  be  handled  In  a  small  way.  We  had  to  use  printers’  ink, 
postage,  telegraph  and  long  distance  telephone  liberally.  To 
condense  a  long  story,  the  preliminary  work  of  organization 
up  to  the  Atlanta  meeting,  February  9,  1912,  cost  $276.96.  After 
that  the  treasurer,  Mrs.  Howison,  took  charge  of  the  finances. 
The  total  to  the  lirst  meeting  of  the  Woman’s  Council,  August, 
1912,  was  $504.22  Of  this  Missouri  contributed  $294.97,  show¬ 
ing  how  heartily  the  women’s  societies,  especially  of  upper  Mis- 

12 


souri  Presbytery  and  Kansas  City  stood  behind  their  own  rep¬ 
resentatives.  It  was  all  raised  through  presentation  of  the 
movement  to  individuals,  women’s  societies,  and  Presbyterial 
Unions,  never  by  public  appeal.  No  debt  was  ever  incurred. 
Sometimes  we  got  down  to  the  last  penny,  but  we  turned  to 
our  Stronghold  and  renewed  prayer  and  effort  brought  in  more 
money.  We  called  up  the  pastor  of  a  church  in  a  neighboring 
city  one  morning  to  ask  if  he  could  not  raise  some  money 
for  us.  He  said,  “Why,  Miss  Hanna,  my  women  do  not  meet 
for  two  weeks  yet,  and  besides  their  pledges  are  all  made.” 
When  the  answer  came,  “But,  Dr.  Blank,  we  are  asking  for 
personal  subscriptions,  not  society  funds,”  He  replied  instant¬ 
ly,  “Put  me  down  for  $10!”  This  part  of  the  business  took  much 
time,  for  the  contributions  were  ordinarily  in  small  sums.  Only 
at  first  did  we  ask  for  large  amounts.  One  wealthy  bachelor 
elder  was  invited  to  give  us  $50,  but  in  reply  he  said  he  “could 
not  deprive  so  many  others  of  the  privilege  of  assisting  in  so 
worthy  a  cause,  and  so  would  only  send  us  $5.00.”  Another 
elder  in  the  same  church  sent  $10  with  the  heart-warming  mes¬ 
sage,  “I  have  never  given  to  any  cause  more  gladly  than  I  do 
to  this,  and  would  love  to  make  it  ten  times  as  much.” 

In  the  Overture  we  had  stated  our  intention  “To  unite  with 
other  Synodical  Unions  in  an  appeal  to  the  General  Assembly,” 
and  we  already  had  the  endorsement  of  every  Synodical  presi¬ 
dent.  To  enlist  the  whole  body  of  women  by  Presbyteries  and 
societies  it  was  necessary  to  spread  thorough  information  as 
to  aim  and  plans,  because  women  in  masses  are  conservative 
and  slow  to  adopt  new  ideas.  Through  letters  we  reached  a 
few  of  the  leaders,  trained,  broad-minded  women,  who  gave 
unstinted  service  in  writing  to  others,  so  our  circle  of  the  per¬ 
sonally  enlisted  grew  rapidly.  From  Miss  Lambdin,  who  had 
more  complete  knowledge  of  the  societies  than  any  other 
woman,  we  obtained  a  list  of  Synodical  and  Presbyterial  offi¬ 
cers,  so  far  as  reported.  Within  ten  days  after  the  Overture 
was  approved  we  had  put  it  into  circulation,  with  the  “Reasons 
Why”  and  the  “Nots”  included.  One  of  tlu  irst  things  we 
learned  was  that  we  must  guard  carefully  against  misappre¬ 
hension,  tell  what  we  did  not  want  as  well  as  what  we  did.. 


13 


Independent  existence  and  authority  were  no  part  of  our  plan 
at  any  time,  so  we  stated  in  large  capitals — 

We  are  NOT  asking  more  AUTHORITY. 

We  are  NOT  asking  the  HANDLING  OF  FUNDS. 

We  are  NOT  ASKING  the  CREATION  OF  ANY  NEW 
AGENCY. 

We  ARE  asking  MORE  EFFICIENCY  through  BETTER 
ORGANIZATION  AND  CLOSER  UNION  OF  OUR  FORCES. 

To  many  officials  of  the  church  we  submitted  this  first  docu¬ 
ment  asking  their  endorsement.  Each  Executive  Committee 
encouraged  the  movement  by  cordial  official  approval.  To 
those  Secretaries,  to  some  members  of  the  Foreign  Missions 
Committee  and  officers  of  the  Systematic  Beneficence  Commit¬ 
tee  and  some  other  prominent  ministers,  our  plans  were  sub¬ 
mitted  in  frequent  consultation.  Never  at  any  time  did  we 
work  independently  of  the  constituted  authorities.  Throughout 
the  entire  movement  their  sympathetic  and  wise  counsel,  always 
at  our  command,  was  practical  and  invaluable.  By  the  middle  of 
December,  1911,  we  had  our  first  circular  letter  ready  for  the 
women’s  societies.  In  it  we  told  the  steps  leading  up  to  the 
Overture,  including  “Reasons  Why”  and  “NOTS,”  outlined 
plans  for  further  proceedings  and  asked  co-operation.  Through 
Synodical  and  Presbyterial  Presidents  we  tried  to  send  a  copy 
to  every  one  of  our  2,600  societies.  The  list  of  officers  was  very 
incomplete — a  proof  of  the  need  of  general  organization.  No 
one  knew  which  were  the  two  unorganized  Presbyterials — an¬ 
other  proof!  Some  officers  not  in  sympathy  with  us  declined 
to  distribute  the  letters,  and  those  who  did  were  asked  to  pay 
for  printing  and  postage,  yet  twenty-one  hundred  of  these 
letters  were  sent  out!  We  realized  it  was  a  slow  way  to  in¬ 
spire  conviction  and  action  and  lacked  the  force  of  personal 
appeal.  Early  in  November  Mrs.  Stewart  suggested  a  confer¬ 
ence  of  leaders  somewhere  in  the  South.  The  Systematic  Be¬ 
neficence  Committee  was  to  hold  its  annual  meeting  in  Atlanta 
February,  1912.  This  was  a  God-given  opportunity  for  our 
cause.  Not  knowing  the  machinery  of  the  church  we  needed 
expert  help.  The  Systematic  Beneficence  Committee  had  the 


14 


oversight  of  all  the  bene.ficences  of  the  church.  We  were  work¬ 
ing  for  a  well  balanced  department  of  woman's  work  to  in¬ 
clude  all  lines  of  benevolent  effort.  To  go  to  any  one  Execu¬ 
tive  Committee  alone  would  give  a  one-sided  support,  but  to 
meet  them  all  together,  with  the  Systematic  Beneficience  Com¬ 
mittee,  would  bring  our  work  to  the  consideration  of  the  entire 
executive  force  of  the  church,  as  represented  by  its  com¬ 
mittees. 

We  hoped  Dr.  J.  W.  Bachman,  as  chairman  of  the  System¬ 
atic  Beneficence  Committee,  could  present  the  Overture  to  the 
Assembly,  if  approved  at  this  conference.  In  the  circular  letters 
just  mentioned,  we  urged  our  women  to  send  to  Dr.  Bachman  a 
flood  of  endorsements  of  the  Overture  so  as  to  present  a  strong 
front  to  the  Assembly.  The  women  took  hold  splendidly  of 
this  new  and  difficult  work,  with  an  enthusiasm  which  showed 
how  ready  they  were  for  the  step.  It  was  a  delight  to  receive 
among  our  answers  letters  from  many  who  had  helped  in  the 
first  movement  twenty-five  years  before,  Mrs.  B.  F.  Hall,  of 
Wilmington;  Mrs.  B.  F.  Brown,  of  Augusta;  Mrs.  C.  A.  Row¬ 
land,  of  Georgia;  Mrs.  M.  D.  Irvine,  of  Kentucky;  Mrs.  Sy- 
denstricker,  now  Synodical  President  of  Mississippi,  and 
others. 

Although  the  S.  B.  Committee  agreed  most  cordially  to  our 
meeting  them  in  Atlanta,  the  obstacles  were  many  in  the  way 
of  getting  the  women  together.  Domestic  duties  were  pressing, 
the  time  was  short — only  eight  weeks — the  trip  was  long  and 
expensive,  the  conference  itself  was  in  the  eyes  of  others  a 
daring  innovation.  The  refusal  of  the  Synod  of  Virginia  to  ap¬ 
prove  the  Overture  made  the  position  trying  for  the  Virginia 
representatives,  loyal  Presbyterians  as  they  were  and  always 
obedient  to  authority,  but  they  saw  their  way  clear  to  come. 
Every  step  was  taken  in  prayer,  wide-spread,  united,  contin¬ 
uous.  The  week  of  January  21st  a  volume  of  petitions  went  up 
from  the  women  of  the  whole  church.  The  faithful  God  who 
keepeth  covenant  answered  mightily.  Why  should  we  ever 

“weak  or  heartless  be, 

Anxious  or  troubled,  when  with  us  is  prayer, 

And  joy  and  strength  and  courage  are  with  Thee?” 

The  conference  was  held  Feb.  9th  and  10th,  1912,  in  the  church 

15 


house  of  the  North  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church,  the  ladies  of 
that  church  throwing  open  their  homes  with  bountiful  hospi¬ 
tality.  Miss  Hanna  was  kept  at  home  by  illness.  Mrs.  Irvine 
and  the  Tennessee  representative  were  called  home  during  the 
journey  for  the  same  reason,  leaving  seven  Synods  instead  of 
nine  on  the  roll  call.  They  were  represented  by  the  following: 

Alabama,  Mrs.  J.  B.  Knox,  Mrs.  J.  G.  Snedecor;  Georgia, 
Mrs.  E.  H.  Phillips,  Mrs.  Archibald  Davis,  Mrs.  J.  S.  Thompson, 
Mrs.  C.  A.  Rowland,  Mrs.  W.  M.  Everett;  Missouri,  Mrs.  W  .C. 
Winsborough,  Mrs.  D.  A.  McMillan;  North  Carolina,  Miss  Mar¬ 
garet  Rankin;  South  Carolina,  Mrs.  W.  W.  Simpson,  Miss 
Leona  Blake;  Texas,  Mrs.  Chris  G.  Dullnig;  Virginia,  Mrs.  J. 
Calvin  Stewart,  Mrs.  A.  M.  Howison. 

These  fifteen  women  of  brains,  consecration  and  culture,  just 
the  material  for  leaders  of  a  great  forward  movement,  repre¬ 
sented  different  localities  and  experiences,  some  much  more 
radical  than  others;  but  the  whole  meeting  was  characterized 
by  a  wonderful  spirit  of  prayer  and  harmony. 

Many  of  the  delegates  had  attended  the  Laymen’s  Missionary 
Convention  in  Chattanooga,  and  went  from  that  to  their  own 
Conference,  inspired  by  its  Pentecostal  power.  Mrs.  Wins¬ 
borough  explained  the  history  of  the  movement  and  its  devel¬ 
opment  step  by  step.  Each  Synodical  gave  its  formal  approval 
to  the  Overture  and  the  resolution  was  passed  unanimously 
“That  the  General  Assembly  be  asked  to  give  us  this  Secre¬ 
tary  for  womens’  work.”  Realizing  if  the  secretary  were  ap¬ 
pointed  the  Assembly’s  Committee  would  desire  the  opinion 
of  the  leading  women,  the  conference  discussed  many  impor¬ 
tant  points.  Again  the  influence  of  the  Spirit  was  shown  in 
the  clearness  and  concentration  of  thought,  the  grasp  of  de¬ 
tails  to  be  worked  out,  making  possible  the  accomplishment  of 
more  real  business  than  would  ordinarily  have  resulted  from  a 
month  of  discussion.  It  was  decided  that  the  expense  neces¬ 
sary  to  the  appointment  and  maintenance  of  the  General  Secre¬ 
tary  be  assumed  by  the  women’s  missionary  societies  for  two 
years,  and  that  not  less  than  one  dollar  per  year  be  asked  from 
each  society.  We  imagined  fondly  that  every  society  would 
give,  and  that  we  could  finance  the  office  on  $2,500,  which 


16 


showed  our  ignorance  in  more  respects  than  one  I  Mrs.  A.  M. 
Howison  was  made  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Finance. 
Regarding  the  method  of  presenting  the  Overture  to  the  As¬ 
sembly  it  was  decided  again  to  appeal  for  aid  to  the  System¬ 
atic  Beneficence  Committee,  since  our  women  were  working 
already  under  all  four  departments  of  mission  work.  A  perma¬ 
nent  committee  to  serve  for  two  years,  called  the  Advisory 
Committee,  was  formed  of  the  synodical  presidents  in  order  of 
their  organization,  with  the  addition  of  Mrs.  Howison,  Treas¬ 
urer,  and  the  Missouri  Committee  on  Organization,  Mrs.  Wins- 
borough  and  Miss  Hanna,  Mrs.  Winsborough  being  made  chair¬ 
man.  Realizing  the  need  of  diffusing  very  general  informa¬ 
tion,  the  Missouri  Committee  was  requested  to  carry  on  an 
educational  campaign  till  the  meeting  of  the  Assembly  in 
May,  the  Advisory  Committee  pledging  themselves  to  meet  the 
expenses.  Mrs.  Winsborough,  accompanied  by  the  seven  ac¬ 
credited  delegates,  presented  the  request  to  the  Systematic  Be¬ 
neficence  Committee.  They  were  cordially  received.  We  copy 
the  results  from  the  Minutes  : 

Copy  from  Minutes  of  S.  B.  Committee,  Atlanta,  Ga. 
February  10,  1912, 

9:00  a.  m. 

At  10:00  o’clock  the  Committee  heard  the  representatives  of 
the  women’s  organizations.  Their  plan  of  proceedure  was 
heartily  and  unanimously  approved,  and  their  requests  referred 
to  the  Committee  on  Publicity  to  be  reported  upon  at  the 
meeting  of  the  Committee  in  May. 

Copy  from  Second  Annual  Report — Bristol,  Va.-Tenn.,  May, 
1912. 

Under  “Miscellaneous  Recommendations”  to  the  Assembly. 

(5)  A  committee  of  ladies  representing  women’s  organiza¬ 
tions  appeared  before  the  Committee  at  its  meeting  in  Atlanta 
in  February  and  asked  consideration  of  plans  regarding  a  sec¬ 
retary  of  women’s  work.  The  members  of  the  Systematic  Be¬ 
neficence  Committee  heartily  approved  of  their  plans,  but  un¬ 
derstanding  that  an  overture  is  coming  direct  to  the  Assembly, 
we  make  no  recommendations. 

In  the  three  months  remaining  the  Missouri  Committee  push¬ 
ed  the  work  with  all  the  energy  in  their  power.  With  the  old 
hymn  writer  they  longed  to  “triumph  well,  to  be  a  more  than 

17 


conqueror.’’  Dean  Stanley’s  advice  to  these  trying  to  work 
for  God. 

“Never  be  dispirited, 

Never  say,  ‘It  is  too  late,’ 

Never  lose  heart  under  opposition,” 

was  timely  for  their  emergencies,  but  the  slogan  of  the  whole 
campaign  in  every  time  of  doubt,  difficulty  or  discouragement 
was  “The  Lord  God  Omnipotent  reigneth.”  If  it  were  His  work 
it  must  succeed.  If  it  were  not,  no  one  wanted  success.  As 
one  secretary  wrote,  “No  modern  movement  had  ever  spread 
so  like  wildfire  through  the  church,”  and  the  question  of  the 
woman  secretary  loomed  very  large  above  the  horizon.  The 
church  papers  were  generous  in  allowing  large  use  of  their 
columns.  Likewise  they  allowed  the  same  liberty  to  those 
holding  opposite  opinions.  There  was  never  at  any  time  or 
under  any  circumstances  what  might  be  called  smooth  sailing. 
Women  as  well  as  men,  expressed  vigorous  dissent  more  than 
once;  notwithstanding  the  Overture  found  many  strong  .cham¬ 
pions.  It  was  an  intelligent  response  to  the  declaration  of  the 
General  Assembly  of  1909,  “The  Assembly  looks  confidently  to 
the  women  of  the  church  for  greater  perfection  of  organization 
of  their  work;”  it  provided  for  all  possible  supervision,  ses¬ 
sional,  presbyterial  and  synodical,  as  well  as  for  an  Assembly’s 
Supervisory  Committee;  it  was  the  logical  development  of 
women’s  Presbyterial  and  Synodical  Unions;  it  followed  nat¬ 
urally  the  Assembly’s  new  plan  of  Systematic  Beneficience;  nev¬ 
ertheless,  against  it  great  theological  guns  “volleyed  and  thun¬ 
dered.”  With  Paul  we  could  say,  “A  great  door  and  effectual 
is  opened,”  and  “there  are  many  adversaries.”  Following  his 
example  we  tarried  right  there  at  Ephesus  ! 

Of  course  any  new  movement  is  sure  to  encounter  unfavora¬ 
ble  criticism  and  severe  judgment.  Much  of  it  came  from  mis¬ 
apprehension  and  partial  information,  but  no  matter  how 
conservative  the  man,  no  matter  how  annihilating  his  disap¬ 
proval,  he  was  almost  without  exception  courteous.  Indeed, 
we  found  many  who  were  past  masters  in  the  art  of  being 
charmingly  courteous  while  conceding  absolutely  nothing  1 

Fortunately  for  the  workers  in  the  strenuous  campaign,  there 

18 


were  occasional  humorous  incidents  to  relieve  the  strain.  The 
titles  of  “limited  pope”  or  “woman  bishop”  even  yet  are  some¬ 
times  heard,  while  it  was  astonishing  how  many  far-sighted 
eyes  could  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  cloven  hoof  of  “woman’s 
suffrage.”  The  name  of  “militant  ecclesiastical  suffragettes” 
stuck  for  a  long  time  to  the  Missouri  women,  but  never  was 
used  again  by  any  one  who  once  met  Mrs.  Winsborough  or 
Mrs.  McMillan  in  their  essential  and  gracious  womanliness. 

Much  literature  was  necessary  to  cover  the  various  phases 
of  the  campaign.  To  remove  misapprehensions  of  all  sorts  the 
leaflet.  “Questions  and  Answers,”  taking  up  many  essential 
points,  was  issued.  Another  circular  letter,  giving  results  of 
the  Atlanta  conference,  was  printed  and  as  the  approvals  came 
pouring  in  a  leaflet  list  of  them  was  issued  showing  the  rapidly 
strengthening  support  of  the  Overture.  Altogether  the  Com¬ 
mittee  on  Organization  circulated  13,000  leaflets.  Words  of  ap¬ 
proval  from  scores  of  ministers  and  laymen  showed  how  widely 
the  church  was  awakened  to  the  need  of  an  advance  step.  The 
close  bond  of  fellowship  among  the  body  of  able  women  to 
whom  contact  and  oneness  of  purpose  gave  a  new  inspiration, 
education  and  courage  was  in  itself  worth  all  it  cost.  As  the 
time  drew  near  it  seemed  wisest  to  present  the  Overture  di¬ 
rectly  to  the  Assembly  instead  of  through  the  Systematic  Be¬ 
neficence  Committee.  It  had  been  so  widely  read  in  its  original 
form  that  it  was  not  changed.  From  the  Minutes  of  the  As¬ 
sembly  we  learned  the  constitution  of  committees  and  names 
of  officials.  In  conversation  one  day  with  one  of  our  valued 
advisers,  an  eminent  D.  D.,  he  remarked,  “Now,  it  we  oniy  had 
a  copy  of  the  Minutes  of  the  Assembly  we  could  settle  that 
question.”  Instantly  we  handed  him  the  Minutes  from  the  ta¬ 
ble  and  his  “Well,  you  women  !”  was  eloquent.  We  had  fairly 
lived  with  those  Minutes  for  months. 

We  sent  the  Overture  to  the  retiring  moderator,  Dr.  Rus¬ 
sell  Cecil,  who  would  be  chairman  of  committee  on  bills  and 
overtures,  asking  him  to  refer  it  to  an  unbiased  committee. 
Also  to  Dr.  T.  H.  Law,  stated  clerk  of  the  Assembly.  It  is  said 
that  the  way  to  learn  geography  is  to  travel.  Certainly  the 
way  to  learn  church  machinery  is  to  try  to  become  a  work- 


19 


ing  part  of  its  organization.  It  is  a  liberal  ecclesiastical  edu¬ 
cation !  We  had  hoped  not  to  find  it  necessary  to  send  Mrs. 
Winsborough  to  the  Assembly,  but  some  of  our  ablest  counsel¬ 
lors  advised  it.  It  proved  sound  wisdom.  There  was  anxiety 
in  many  quarters  lest  there  be  even  the  appearance  of  “lobby¬ 
ing,”  but  that  dread  spectre  never  lifted  its  head.  There  was 
instead  a  modest,  cultured  woman,  asking  no  hearing,  but  ready 
to  answer  questions  and  able  to  correct  misunderstandings.  The 
Overture  was  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Church  Societies, 
of  which  Dr.  J.  M.  Grier,  that  wise,  gentle,  thoughtful  gentle¬ 
man,  was  chairman.  He  requested  Mrs.  Winsborough  to  ap¬ 
pear  before  the  committee  and,  to  violate  no  proprieties,  Miss 
Sala  Evans,  one  of  our  missionaries  from  Japan,  kept  her  com¬ 
pany  while  she  explained  fully  and  clearly  the  whole  scope  and 
purpose  of  the  women’s  appeal.  The  great  and  needy  field  of 
women’s  work,  the  promise  of  larger  fruitfulness  through  uni¬ 
ty  and  system,  proved  its  own  best  argument.  The  committee 
recommended  unanimously  that  the  Secretary  be  appointed. 
The  official  report  is  as  follows  : 

“In  answer  to  Overtures  Nos.  23  and  25,  from  the  Presbyteries 
of  East  Hanover  and  Roanoke,  asking  that  an  ad-interim  com¬ 
mittee  be  appointed  to  consider  the  whole  subject  of  woman’s 
work  in  the  church,  we  recommend  that  the  Assembly  decline 
to  appoint  such  a  committee  and  refer  the  petitioners  to  the 
report  of  the  ad-interim  committee  appointed  by  the  Assembly 
in  1910,  which  was  adopted  by  the  Assembly  of  1911.  (See  Min¬ 
utes,  p.  67.) 

“In  answer  to  Overtures  Nos.  18,  19  and  24  from  the  Presbyte¬ 
ries  of  Lexington,  Winchester  and  Mississippi^  asking  that  a 
Secretary  for  Woman’s  Work  be  not  appointed  and  Nos.  16,  17, 
20,  21  and  23  from  the  Synodical  Unions  of  Missouri  and  Vir¬ 
ginia  and  four  other  Synodical  and  forty-one  Presbyterial  un¬ 
ions  endorsed'  by  the  Synod  of  Missouri  and  from  the  Pres¬ 
byteries  of  Columbia,  Atlanta,  Knoxville  and  Sewanee,  asking 
that  such  Secertary  be  appointed,  we  recommend  the  following: 

“That  the  four  Executive  Committees  be  directed  to  select  a 
woman  possessing  suitable  gifts,  who,  under  their  direction, 
shall  give  her  whole  time  to  the  work  of  organizing  our  women 
into  Synodical  and  Presbyterial  unions  and  local  societies  un¬ 
der  control  of  Synods,  Presbyteries  and  Sessions,  respectively; 
c  ">-ordinating  Woman’s  and  Young  People’s  Societies  now  or¬ 
ganized;  stimulating  interest  by  gathering  and  disseminating 


20 


needed  information  in  order  that  this  mighty  auxiliary  in  our 
Church’s  life  and  growth  may  become  even  more  fruitful  of 
good  than  in  the  past.”  J.  M.  GRIER,  for  Committee. 

(Assembly’s  Min.,  1912,  p.  23.) 

We  had  gone  up  to  the  Assembly  with  the  endorsement  of 
the  Synod  of  Missouri,  all  six  Synodical  and  forty-one  Presby- 
terial  Unions,  besides  Overtures  from  four  Presbyteries. 
Against  us  were  three  Presbyteries  directly,  two  indirectly. 
We  were  prepared  for  a  contest  between  the  staunch  and  elo- 
qunt  men  lined  up  for  and  against  the  woman  secretary,  but  in¬ 
stead,  on  May  20,  1912,  without  one  word  of  argument,  the  Over¬ 
ture  was  unanimously  adopted!  It  was  a  day  of  great  rejoicing 
and  praise  to  the  mighty  God  who  said  “Before  they  call  I  will 
answer,  and  while  they  are  yet  speaking  I  will  hear.” 

The  Bristol  Assembly  opened  wide  the  door  of  opportunity 
and  the  door  of  responsibility  as  well.  The  work  was  really  but 
just  begun.  Organization  was  yet  to  be  effected.  From  the  be¬ 
ginning  of  the  educational  campaign  prayer  and  diligent  search 
was  made  for  the  woman  equipped  with  the  necessary  require¬ 
ments  for  the  new  office.  Many  names  of  able  and  consecrated 
workers  were  suggested,  but  one  difficulty  or  another  was  in  the 
way  with  every  one.  With  the  entire  constituency  to  be  edu¬ 
cated  along  lines  of  new  and  untried  union,  with  more  than 
half  of  the  Synods  yet  unorganized,  the  work  in  both  field  and 
office  seemed  too  big  for  any  one  woman  without  experience  to 
assume.  Mrs.  Winsborough  in  her  nine  months  of  effort  had 
acquired  a  more  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  conditions,  the 
problems  and  the  working  force,  both  in  societies  and  churches, 
than  any  other  one  woman  in  the  South.  In  the  first  critical 
months  of  organization,  with  the  whole  policy  to  be  outlined 
and  put  into  execution,  it  was  evident  her  experience  and  abil¬ 
ity  would  be  indispensable  to  the  new  officer.  Miss  Hanna 
wrote  in  June  to  the  four- executive  secretaries  and  to  the  Ad¬ 
visory  Committee  suggesting  the  field  work  in  the  early  stages 
be  turned  over  to  Mrs.  Winsborough,  without  salary,  so  that 
she  might  continue  her  service  till  the  woman’s  secretary  could 
handle  the  entire  organization.  This  was  open  to  the  serious 
objection  of  making  two  heads,  one  for  office  and  one  for  field 
work,  which  was  not  at  all  advisable.  Just  at  this  crisis,  Dr. 


21 


Chas.  R.  Nisbet,  who  had  been  a  valued  counsellor  all  the  time, 
came  to  our  assistance  and  cut  the  Gordian  knot  with  mascu¬ 
line  directness.  He  urged  us  to  nominate  Mrs.  Winsborough 
herself  for  the  office,  when  our  plans  were  submitted  to  the 
Supervisory  Committee  and  organization  was  completed.  Not 
only  that,  he  wired  the  suggestion  to  the  Executive  Secretaries 
and  to  every  member  of  the  Advisory  Committee,  and  paid  for  the 
telegrams  himself  !  The  request  for  her  had  come  in  before  re¬ 
peatedly  from  a  large  number  of  ministers  and  women,  but 
nothing  was  farther  from  her  thoughts.  With  her  family  duties, 
it  seemed  impossible  to  carry  on  more  work.  To  keep  the  office 
in  Kansas  City  seemed  an  insuperable  obstacle.  But  as  Dr. 
Nisbit  said,  no  one  else  could  do  what  she  could,  she  would  of 
necessity  have  to  outline  and  direct  the  work  during  the  first 
months,  and  finally  it  was  not  right  for  her  to  carry  the  re¬ 
sponsibility  in  fact  and  not  in  name.  For  nearly  three  hours 
that  scorching  June  day  Dr.  Nisbit  argued  the  wisdom  of  the 
step  and  finally  won  a  reluctant  consent  from  Mrs.  Winsbor¬ 
ough  to  let  her  name  be  proposed,  a  result  which  was  joyfully 
approved  by  the  Advisory  Committee. 

As  the  Supervisory  Committee  wished  to  know  the  desires  and 
plans  of  the  Woman’s  Committee  before  completing  formal  or¬ 
ganization,  a  meeting  was  called  at  Montreat,  August  9th  and 
10th.  Mrs.  Winsborough  had  already  studied  out  a  definite  and 
detailed  outline  of  the  essential  points  which  the  able  women 
of  the  committee  took  up  in  two  days  of  earnest  consideration. 
First  of  all,  of  course,  Mrs.  Winsborough  was  nominated  to  fill 
the  office  created  by  the  General  Assembly.  As  the  title  of 
Secretary  had  never  been  satisfactory,  at  Mrs.  McMillan’s  sug¬ 
gestion  it  was  changed  to  Superintendent.  The  name  Aux¬ 
iliary  was  agreed  upon,  a  constitution,  a  financial  plan,  and 
many  other  perplexing  and  important  questions  considered 
carefully.  Next  day  the  whole  matter  was  submitted  to  the 
secretaries  of  the  four  executive  committees  in  conference,  ap¬ 
proved  by  them,  and  the  Department  of  Woman’s  Work,  known 
officially  as  the  “Woman’s  Auxiliary  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
U.  S.,”  was  thus  formally  organized  August  10th,  1912.  The 
much  criticised  “Woman  Secretary”  disappeared  forever.  So 
did  the  disputed  titles  of  “Union”  and  “Conference.”  At  the 


22 


suggestion  of  the  Supervisory  Committee  the  Advisory  Com¬ 
mittee  became  the  Woman’s  Council,  whom  we  honor  here 
today. 

The  following  is  taken  from  the  Misionary  Survey  of  Sep¬ 
tember,  1912: 

“On  August  10,  1912,  at  Montreat,  N.  C.,  in  accordance  with 
instructions  of  the  General  Assembly,  the  Secretaries  of  the 
four  Executive  Committees,  met  to  organize  a  Department  of 
Woman’s  Work. 

“Their  action  is  embodied  in  the  following  signed  report: 

“After  conference  with  official  representatives  of  the  Synod¬ 
ical  organizations  of  Alabama,  Georgia,  Kentucky,  South  Car¬ 
olina,  North  Carolina,  Mississippi,  Missouri,  Texas,  and  Vir¬ 
ginia  and  workers  from  the  other  Synods,  the  Supervisory 
Committee  took  the  following  action  : 

“(a)  The  official  designation  of  the  department  of  woman’s 
work  shall  be  the  Woman’s  Auxiliary  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States. 

“(b)  The  title  of  the  salaried  official  shall  be  Superintendent, 
and  her  salary  shall  be  $1,200  per  year. 

“(c)  There  shall  be  an  advisory  committee  of  women  known 
as  the  Woman’s  Council,  to  be  constituted  as  follows: 

“One  representative  from  each  Synod  who  shall  be  the  Pres¬ 
ident  of  the  Synodical  Organization  where  such  organizations 
exist.  Where  there  is  no  Synodical  Organization,  the  presidents 
of  the  Presbyterial  organizations  shall  select  the  representative 
for  the  Synod. 

“(d)  Temporary  headquarters  of  the  Woman’s  Auxiliary 
shall  be  in  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  and  Mrs.  W.  C.  Winsborough,  of 
Missouri,  is  hereby  elected  superintendent  for  the  Church  year. 

“(Note:  Mrs.  Winsborough,  by  reason  of  her  knowledge  of  the  work  to 
be  done,  was  the  unanimous  choice  of  the  Synodical  representatives,  and 
at  a  great  personal  sacrifice  has  consented  to  undertake  the  duties  of  Su¬ 
perintendent  during  the  initial  stages  of  the  work.) 

“(e)  Mrs.  A.  M.  Howison,  of  Staunton,  Va.,  is  hereby  elected 
Treasurer  of  the  Woman’s  Auxiliary  and  is  authorized  to  col¬ 
lect  all  outstanding  subscriptions  and  all  necessary  funds  for 
the  current  expenses  of  the  work. 

“No  funds  for  the  benevolent  causes  of  the  Church  shall  be 
sent  to  the  Treasurer  of  the  Woman’s  Auxiliary.  All  such 
funds  should  be  sent  through  the  treasurer  of  the  local  church 

23 


direct  to  the  treasurer  of  the  Executive  Agency  for  whom  the 
offering  is  intended. 

“The  following  resolutions  were  adopted  by  the  Supervisory 
Committee : 

“1.  The  Women’s  Organizations  of  the  Church  are  requested 
to  make  a  study  of  the  activities  and  needs  of  all  the  benevolent 
agencies  of  the  Assembly  and  to  make  offerings  for  the  support 
of  each  cause,  the  funds  to  be  divided  on  the  basis  suggested  by 
the  Assembly,  viz.:  Foreign  Missions,  sixty  per  cent.;  Assem¬ 
bly’s  Home  Missions,  twenty-one  per  cent.;  Christian  Educa¬ 
tion  and  Ministerial  Relief,  fourteen  per  cent.;  Sabbath  School 
Extension  and  Publication,  five  per  cent. 

“2.  The  members  of  the  Women’s  organizations  of  the 
Church  are  urged  to  co-operate  in  the  effort  to  enlist  every 
member  of  every  Church  in  the  support  of  the  benevolent  work 
of  the  Assembly  through  the  “Every  Member  Canvass,”  as  rec¬ 
ommended  by  the  General  Assembly,  and  their  co-operation  is 
asked  in  the  effort  to  arouse  a  deeper  interest  in  evangelistic 
work  throughout  the  Church. 

“E.  W.  Smith,  S.  L.  Morris,  H.  H.  Sweets,  R.  E.  Magill,  As¬ 
sembly’s  Supervisory  Committee.” 

Mrs.  Winsborough  was  made  chairman  of  the  Council,  Mrs. 
W.  C.  Fritter  secretary,  Mrs.  Howison  treasurer.  To  carry  out 
successfully  the  high  aims  of  the  Council  demanded  wisdom  to 
plan  and  strength  to  execute,  as  well  as  enlarged  vision,  and  a 
new  standard  of  consecration.  Especially  arduous  was  the 
work  of  the  treasurer.  To  finance  the  auxiliary  for  two  years, 
as  promised  to  the  Bristol  Assembly,  was  a  most  difficult  task, 
and  one  to  which  Mrs.  Howison  gave  freely  ability  and  service 
of  the  highest  order.  Not  quite  800  societies  responded  the 

first  year,  and  only  her  untiring  efforts  and  the  assistance  of 
the  Supervisory  Committee  made  it  possible  to  support  the 
Auxiliary  in  the  most  economical  manner,  the  administration 
costing  three-fifths  of  1  per  cent.  When  the  Council  met  in  At¬ 
lanta,  May,  1913,  for  its  first  annual  meeting,  there  was  only 
seven  months’  work  to  report,  the  trying  work  incident  to  the 
establishment  of  a  new  department,  but  full  of  splendid  prom¬ 
ise  and  encouragement. 

For  the  second  year  Mrs.  Archibald  H.  Davis  was  made  chair¬ 
man,  relieving  Mrs.  Winsborough  of  her  double  duty.  She  has 

24 


been  a  tower  of  strength  in  her  department.  Miss  McGowan, 
of  Kentucky,  was  made  Secretary,  and  Mrs.  D.  A.  McMillan 
Treasurer.  The  new  financial  plan  of  a  somewhat  inadequate 
budget  apportioned  among  the  synodicals  and  presbyterials, 
still  required  every  bit  of  the  skilled  and  faithful  labor  with 
which  it  was  handled.  This  Assembly  (1914)  brings  us  to  the 
end  of  our  two  provisional  years.  We  are  rejoiced  that  our 
probationary  days  are  ended,  and  that  we  are  to  be  accepted  as 
an  agency  of  the  church  “in  good  and  regular  standing,”  and 
our  maintenance  provided,  as  are  those  of  other  departments, 
leaving  our  officers  free  to  use  their  time  and  strength  in  the 
work  of  education  and  inspiration.  Certain  it  is  the  Executive 
Secretaries  have  spoken  with  no  uncertain  sound  as  to  the 
value  of  the  Auxiliary  to  every  one  of  their  offices.  Their  sym¬ 
pathy  and  co-operation  have  been  invaluable,  practical  and  un¬ 
failing,  a  most  happy  illustration  of  the  unity  where  there  is 
“neither  male  nor  female  in  Christ  Jesus,”  but  the  common 
labor  of  those  who  are  “heirs  together  of  the  grace  of  life,” 
“striving  together  for  the  faith  of  the  gospel.” 

This  sketch  is  incomplete  if  it  does  not  include  any  of  the 
splendid  results  of  the  short  life  of  the  Auxiliary,  but  the  time 
will  not  allow  more.  The  Annual  Reports  of  the  Superintendent 
for  both  years,  printed  and  distributed,  give  in  barest  outline 
the  wonderful  development  of  the  eighteen  months  of  its  exist¬ 
ence,  a  progress  in  unity,  efficiency  and  power  to  make  glad 
the  heart  of  every  missionary  woman  and  every  lover  of  the 
Kingdom.  Only  those  in  close  touch  with  the  work  can  realize 
what  the  advance  means,  what  a  joyful  promise  it  is  of  increas¬ 
ing  fruitfulness  in  world-wide  evangelization  The  results  of 
these  few  months  show  to  a  marked  degree  the  power  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  without  which  neither  administrative  ability  nor 
perfected  organization  would  have  availed  anything.  The  out¬ 
look  is  a  call  to  renewed  faithfulness.  The  Woman’s  Auxiliary 
will  come  far  short  of  its  high  calling  if  it  forgets  it  must  be 
more  than  an  organization.  It  must  be  an  organism  indwelt  by 
life,  the  Life  which  is  life  indeed.  We  are  part  of  His  body 
and  apart  from  Him  we  can  do  nothing.  Our  passion,  like  our 
Master’s,  must  be  for  souls,  not  forms  nor  machinery.  Only 


so  can  we  exalt  Him  who  said,  “I,  if  I  be  lifted  up,  will  draw 
all  men  unto  me.” 

“He  hath  sounded  forth  the  trumpet  which  shall  never  call 
retreat, 

Oh,  be  swift  my  soul  to  answer  Him,  be  jubilant  my  feet  1” 


26 


